Royal Households of The United Kingdom

The Royal Households of the United Kingdom consists of royal officials and the supporting staff of the British Royal Family, as well as the Royal Household which supports the Sovereign. Each member of the Royal Family who undertakes public duties has his own separate Household – these vary considerably in size, from fewer than ten staff shared by The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry, to the Household of the Prince of Wales, which is traditionally the largest household after the sovereign's. The lesser households are funded from the Civil List annuities paid to their respective royal employers for their public duties, all of which are reimbursed to HM Treasury by the Queen.

Incorporated within the Sovereign's own household are not only royal officials and support staff, but representatives of other estates of the Realm, including the Government, the Military and the Church. (Government whips, the professional heads of the armed forces and some clerics all have positions in the Royal Household by virtue of fulfilling honorary roles alongside their professional duties.) Moreover, certain poets, scientists, musicians and artists are also numbered among its members. In this way, the Royal Household may be seen as having a symbolic, as well as a practical, function: exemplifying the Monarchy's close relationship with other parts of the Constitution and of national life.